Guitar steel



April 5, 1949. F. w. WRIGHT 2,466,344

GUITAR STEEL Filed March 30, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

Rake/s 14/. M5 115. BY

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in guitar steels for stopping thestrings of guitars and similar musical instruments in a manner to givecertain qualities to the strings, and the primary object of theinvention is to provide a more efiicient, more easily manipulatable, andmore comfortable device of this kind, which can be produced of highestgrade material at relatively low cost.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention willbe apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings,wherein for purposes of illustration, a specific embodiment of theinvention is set forth in detail.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing theillustrated device in position on a guitar players finger.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a left-hand end elevation of the device, with the retainingspring removed.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the device shown comprises a body 5preferably of ZO-gage stainless steel, of semi-circular cross-section,to receive the finger 6 of a guitar player lengthwise, the rear end ofthe body being open and the forward end closed by a semi-circularsegmental portion 8, conforming to the rounded finger tip 9.

For securing the body 5 in place on the players finger 8, outturned tabsor lugs I0, I are provided on the opposite side edges I I, l I of thebody at a point about one-third the length of the body from its rear endI, with which are engaged the terminals l2, l2 of a flat expandin spring[4, on the order of that embodied in expansible watch bands, likewise ofstainless steel, and stretched tightly enough to exert sufilcientpressure upon the back of the players finger 6 to hold the body engagedwith the underpart of the finger B and to preclude endwise movement ofsaid body relative to the finger in ordinary service.

The body 5 with its spring retaining lugs l0, l0 can be produced by asingle stamping operation from a single blank of material, and differentsizes can be provided if desired, all at very little cost for materialsand manufacture.

What is claimed is:

1. A guitar steel comprising a sheet metal body of semi-circularcross-section elongated to conformably receive a major portion of theunderside of a players finger, the rear end of said body being open andthe forwardend of said body being closed by a semi-circular segmentalportion to conformably receive the tip of the players finger, andcontractile means extending across said body between the side edgesthereof to overlie the back of the players finger in a manner to retainthe said body engaged with the underside of the players finger andpreclude forward endwise movement of said body relative to the playersfinger.

2. A guitar steel comprising a sheet metal body of semi-circularcross-section elongated to conformably receive a major portion of theunderside of a players finger, the rear end of said body being open andthe forward end of said body being closed by a semi-circular segmentalportion to conformably receive th tip of the players finger, andcontractile means extending across said body between the side edgesthereof to overlie the back of the players finger in a manner to retainthe said body engaged with the underside of the players finger andpreclude forward endwise movement of said body relative to the playersfinger, said contractile means comprising a fiat expanding springstretched across the side edges of said body and having its ends securedto the latter.

3. A guitar steel comprising a sheet metal body of semi-circularcross-section elongated to conformably receive a major portion of theunderside of a players finger, the rear end of said body being open andthe forward end of said body being closed by a semi-circular segmentalportion to conformably receive the tip of the players finger, the sideedges of said body being straight for substantially their entire lengthand parallel to the bottom of said body, a lug on each of the side edgesof said body, and contractile means embodying a flat expanding springstretched between said lugs and secured at its ends to the latter tooverlie the back of the players finger in a manner to retain the saidbody engaged with the underside of the players finger and precludeforward endwise movement of said body relative to the players finger.

FRANCIS WILLIAM WRIGHT.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,690,860 Gonzalez Nov. 6, 19281,748,053 Blair Feb. 25, 1930

